Saturday 28 September 2019

Did all diamonds come from one huge rock?

Origin of Kimberlite

A recent paper in Nature suggests that kimberlites older than 200 million years have a single source. Younger kimberlites are a bit different - the break-up of Pangea may have disrupted the source. Much of the work involves neodymium and hafnium isotopic data. 

Kimberlites are the source of natural diamonds.

However a commentary on the paper is rather more cautious. You can listen to the original paper's author HERE.

A cross-section of kimberlite from West Greenland, photographed using polarized light, shows the wide range and complex structure of minerals (such as diamonds, garnets and zircons) within. (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland)

But the prominent mineral is olivine

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